I’ve add three new articles to the Article Database today (see links below to read). The first two articles are from the 1950s and discuss Vivien’s latest theatrical endeavours. The third article is about Vivien’s 1960s theater tour with the Old Vic. The opening sentence of the article ”Personality of the Month” made me pause. I’d love to hear your thought about it… do you agree or disagree? Keep in mind this was written in the late 1950s: “Vivien Leigh has long been regarded as one of the most beautiful, gracious and talented leading ladies of our stage, but she has never been thought of as a fiery personality. Last month, however, the announcement that the St. James’s Theatre in London was to be demolished to make way for a block of offices brought out a fighting spirit in Vivien Leigh that made us change our minds about her.”
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June30th
3 Comments -
January29th
No Comments{Article} Mistress of Comedy
Posted in: Articles
Its Day 5 so here’s article #5, thus concluding our week of new articles! Hope you’ve enjoyed it!
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Vivien Leigh, now playing the title-role in Look After Lulu! at the New Theatre, has gone from success in the theatre since she played her first part at the Ambassador’s 24 years ago. It is in comedy that she excels, and this Noel Coward adaptation of Feydeau’s famous farce has given her an ideal role.
It is strange that we should have waited so long to see Vivien Leigh in a Feydeau farce. With her delicate type of beauty, her aptitude for frothy comedy, her exquisitely controlled movement on the stage, and her sheer personal vivacity, she seems to have been born to play the alluring heroines of Feydeau. And did she not also study with Mlle. Antoine of the Comédie-Française ?
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January28th
1 Comment{Article} Vivien ‘moving’ as Lavinia
Posted in: Articles
It’s Day 4 so here’s Article #4! It comes from a 1957 Plays & Players magazine and is featured under their ‘new plays’ section. It’s titled: “The Oliviers: Titus Andronicus and his daughter Lavinia.” A noteworthy quote is about Vivien Leigh:
To say that Miss Leigh is at her most moving when her Lavinia cannot speak is only to remind the reader that she is, as it were, the Fonteyn of Drama, taking direction as a river takes rain and so absorbing it into her art that who is to know what she found in herself and what she has been lent. In a swift, resonant and amber-hued production she was most moving.
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January27th
No Comments{Article} Superb Acting in ‘Duel’
Posted in: Articles
It’s Day 3 so here’s Article #3– it’s another article from the 1961-1962 Old Vic “World” Tour time frame. Again, New Zealand Kiwis believed Vivien Leigh could do no wrong and that John Merivale paled in comparison to her performance.
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Superb Acting in ‘Duel’
The Old Vic players balanced brilliantly on a knife-edge at the Grand Opera House last night, an edge that could have toppled them from pseudo-tragedy into farce, from seemingly erudite wit into banal backchat.
An enthusiastic audience proclaimed both the technical virtuosity of their acrobatic feat and the eye entrancing spectacle they presented.The occasion was Jean Giraudoux’s “Duel of Angels” in Christopher Fry’s sparkling translation. Perhaps the contrast with last week’s creaky melodrama heightened the shock of delight this play of ideas imparted. Yet the contrast was just an added ingredient in an offering of undiluted attractiveness.
It was particularly pleasing to hear and see Vivien Leigh in a part that suited her admirably, neither stretching her beyond her undoubted powers nor yet making too easy the success she achieved.
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January26th
No Comments{Article} Vivien Leigh Dominating
Posted in: Articles
It’s Day 2 so here’s Article #2! Apparently, Vivien Leigh shines in “Lady of the Camellias” whereas John Merivale disappoints (and is overpowered by Vivien).
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Vivien Leigh Dominating
Dumas’ “Lady of the Camellias,” the second Old Vic production, which opened in the Wellington Opera House last night, is romantic, melodramatic, sentimental, handkerchief stuff.
But it is also a first-rate vehicle for an actress of power. For if the female lead fails, there is little else left, and largely because Vivien Leigh does bring sympathy and power to the part of the consumptive Marguerite Gauthier, “The Lady” is a qualified success.
That it never completely reaches great heights is partly the fault of Dumas and partly because Miss Leigh’s acting overpowers her leading man, John Merivale.
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